I am carb cycling, gluten-freeing, and learning to THRIVE especially while dodging fibromyalgia and Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. Losing weight is tough work for anyone but for a chronic babe like me it really is a matter of WEIGHING HEALTHY choices and finding what works for my body.

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Week 13–Tools…Use All The Tools You Can

So I’m going to try to keep this short (I know, I know I say that a lot). It’s been a LONG day and I was supposed to be taking a break from working on my novel to read to get a real good feel for chapter construction but that didn’t happen.

In fact, nothing went according to plan today.

Sigh.

Let me get the uncomfortable part out-of-the-way first. I passed on signing up for the gym. The math–doing the math–between my check and the bills just didn’t add up. I hate admitting that. Like REALLY hate admitting it. But, it’s also the truth. When there’s $60 leftover after the bills got paid, using $43 of it for the membership fee and first month just doesn’t add up.

However, I came up with a compromise with myself. A day pass to the pool just up the street from me is $5. My goal is to go at least once before the end of the month…even if I have to save change to do it.

I also need to get out and walk more because….

BECAUSE….

My measurements have basically stopped changing for the past six months. “Basically” means they bob up and down within a quarter of an inch from week to week.

However, the big picture…the real picture is I am bigger inch-wise than I was on last 26 May when I weighed 8/10 of a pound more than I did yesterday.

A year ago I weighed a little more but was smaller than I am now. The softness of my muscles explains it all. I need to give my body more resistance so it will shrink.

It’s not just the tape measure either. I have pants that do not fit despite weighing less.

But…

Of course there’s a but…

I do have good news.

If you remember this post from last year, you’ll recall the doctor tested my body fat at 48.5%.

One of the bills I paid instead of getting a gym membership was a new scale. Since it was one or the other, I splurged and found a deluxe model that also tests body fat percentage. If it can be believed–and I have to believe in something right now for my own weight loss sanity–I now have a body fat percentage of 44.4%.

Listen, it’s been rough. There’s no sight of relief in the immediate future so I have to count this as a win. Besides, this is my scale moving forward so I have this as my start point.

This super duper scale does confirm one of the other results from my doctor’s visit: I have a higher than lean body mass. It’s what is helping me lean (all pun intended) toward the lower body fat percentage being accurate too.

Having a healthy weight also needs to include your body composition. You can be thin and still have a too high body fat percentage. You can also weigh too much but have an acceptable body fat percentage. This is why the BMI scale is faulty since it does not take these variations into account.

Honest to goodness kiddos, it was enough to pull me out of the post vakay funk I’ve been in. Maybe it’s wrong but it worked for me. That funk wasn’t any healthier than excess weight; I promise you that.

Oh yeah, I’m also 2/10 of a pound LESS than I was on the morning of the cruise.

Can I get a WOOT, WOOT?

That’s THREE POUNDS since I came home and 6/10 of it since last week and now I’m less than I was before I left which means I’m into the random 12 pounds. Relieved!

If you’ve been following along at all, you know this much weight in two weeks is a big deal for me.

The scale, the tape measure, body fat analysis, and clothes are all tools. Weighing Healthy is about using all the tools you have to give yourself the most accurate picture of your health. All the tools. Being real, being accountable is also crucial.